Thrive in God’s Grace!

I trust that you are thriving on God’s grace this week! I just have a few important announcements. Please pray for me as I prepare to speak at the Chinese Christian Young Adults Retreat in Arizona this weekend. This Sunday, English worship will have a very special Prayer and Praise service, to be organized by the Spiritual Growth Team. It will be a very meaningful experience!

Now for the announcements:

1. Northeast Taiwan Church Mission visit – we’re looking for 3-5 coworkers from English service to help set up the 7-bedroom and church tour this Friday. Email Johnson Chiang [email Johnson] or Paul Chen [email Paul] to find out what time to come on Friday. You are welcome to join the dinner and evening program at 6:30 PM, but please confirm with Johnson tonight (Wed) so that he can get an accurate head count for dinner.

2. After much prayer and discussions with his fiancee, Chris Liu has accepted our invitation to serve at Canaan church as the next Youth Pastor! He says, “We really felt like God was calling us there and we are excited to serve together and continue the good work that is already being done at Canaan.” Chris and his fiancee will transition over the summer and officially start in September. Please welcome Chris to our family (again)!

3. I’m looking for a team of 5-8 persons to lead Praise and Worship for the homeless at CityTeam Oakland on Sunday late afternoon, Sept. 18th. CityTeam is a wonderful Christian ministry to the homeless and those in recovery. The Oakland ministry is located at 722 Washington Street (between 7th and 8th Streets and parallel to Broadway near Oakland Chinatown). There is plenty of free parking nearby. My friend, Augie Bau, has been coordinating a monthly worship service since January 2005. Usually volunteers meet on the third Sunday of each month at 7:00 p.m. to pray. The worship is from 7:10 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The format of the worship is completely up to the group leading (e.g. traditional worship, songs, testimonies, musical, skit, etc). If you wish to stay and serve dinner with the group coordinated by Bob Burke at 8:05 p.m., then please bring a cap or head covering per sanitary regulations for food service. If you are interested, let me know!

4. VBS is right around the corner! Pray for Nicole Lu and the VBS team as they prepare to share the Good News of Jesus to nearly 100 kids on Aug 2-6th! There are still spaces available for volunteers, so please contact Nicole [email Nicole] if you are interested.